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THE SHEWING UP OF 
BLANCO POSNET • A SERMON 
IN CRUDE MELODRAMA • BY 
BERNARD SHAW 



BRENTANO'S NEW YORK 
MCMIX 



> 



THE SHEWING UP OF 

BLANCO POSNET ^^ ^ 

"33 



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BRENTANO'S, Fifth Ave., New York 



THE SHEWING UP OF 
BLANCO POSNET • A SERMON 
IN CRUDE MELODRAMA • BY 
BERNARD SHAW 




BRENTANO'S NEW YORK 
MCMIX 






Copyright J 1909, by Brentanos 



AU3 26:1909 



THE TRO-W PRESS • NEW TOBK 



THE SHEWING UP OF BLANCO 
POSNET 

A number of women are sitting working together in a 
big room not unlike an old English tithe barn in its tim- 
bered construction, but with windows high in the walls, 
and furnished as a courthouse, with the floor raised next 
the walls, and on this raised flooring a seat for the Sheriff, 
a rough jury box on his right, a bar to put prisoners to 
on his left, and a table in the middle with benches round 
it. A few other benches in disorder round the rooTU. 
The autumn sun is shining warmly through the windows 
and the open door. The women, whose dress and speech 
are those of pioneers of civilization in a territory of the 
United States of America, are seated round the table and 
on the benches, shucking nuts. The conversation is at 
its height. 

HANNAH, LOTTIE, EMMA, JESSIE, BABSY. 

Babsy [a bumptious young slattern, with some good 
looks] I say that a man that would steal a horse would 
do anything. 

Lottie [a sentimental girl, neat and clean] Well, I 
never should look at it in that way. I do think killing a 
man is worse any day than stealing a horse. 

Hannah [elderly and wise] I dont say it's right to 
kill a man. In a place like this, where every man has to 
have a revolver, and where theres so much to try people's 
tempers, the men get to be a deal too free with one an- 



2 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

other in the way of shooting. God knows it's hard enough 
to have to bring a boy into the world and nurse him up 
to be a man only to have him brought home to you oh 
a shutter, perhaps for nothing, or only just to shew that 
the man that killed him wasnt afraid of him. But men 
are like children when they get a gun in their hands: 
theyre not content until theyve used it on somebody. 

Jessie [good-natured but sharp-ton gued, hoity-toity 
young woman; Babsy's rival in good looks and her su- 
perior in tidiness] They shoot for the love of it. Look 
at them at a lynching. Theyre not content to hang the. 
man; but directly the poor creature is swung up they all 
shoot him full of holes, wasting their cartridges that cost 
solid money, and pretending they do it in horror of his 
wickedness, though half of them would have a rope 
round their own necks if all they did was known. Let 
alone the mess it makes. 

Lottie. I wish we could get more civilised. I dont 
like all this lynching and shooting. I dont believe any 
of us like it, if the truth were known. 

Babsy. Our Sheriff is a real strong man. You want 
H strong man for a rough lot like our people here. He 
aint afraid to shoot and he aint afraid to hang. Lucky 
for us quiet ones, too. 

Jessie. Oh, dont talk to me. I know what men are. 
Of course he aint afraid to shoot and he aint afraid to 
hang. Wheres the risk in that with the law on his side 
and the whole crowd at his back longing for the lynch- 
ing as if it was a spree? Would one of them own to it 
or let him own to it if they lynch the wrong man ? Not 
them. What they call justice in this place is nothing 
but a breaking out of the devil thats in all of us. What 
I want to see is a Sheriff that aint afraid not to shoot 
and not to hang. 

Emma [a sneak who sides with Babsy or Jessie, ac- 
cording to the fortune of war] Well, I must say it does 



The Shewing up of Bknco Posnet 8 

sicken me to s^rf: Sheriff 'Kemp puJding dfjwn his foot, ha 
he c^IIjs it Why drmt he pnt it do^sm on hij Trifer She 
▼aiiti it worse th^oi half the men he Ivnchea. He and 
his Vigilance Committee, indeed I 

Bab8T 'iB<?*?n./^<i] Oh. well: if people are going to 
take the part of horse-thieves againit the .Sheri? — ! 

Jeaiiz. Who's taking the part of Lor^e-thievea a;£ziiist 
iht -Sherif? 

Babsy. YoTi are, Waitle jcmr oim bone is stf^cn, and 
jooll kiM)v better. I bad an micle fliat died of tliiist in 
the sage brorii beeaoK a D^pro sti^ bit bone. But de^^ 
cau^X him and bvmed bim; and serre bim ri^^ too. 

£xMA. I bare kaowB a ebild Uiat was born crooked 
because its moiber bad to do a borse's wotk that was 
stolen. 

Bamt. Tboe! Too bear tbat? I saj stealing a 
bone is tea times worse fiian killing a man. And if tbe 
Vigilance C owiiiiUee erer gets bold of too, jood better 
bare killed twentj men Oan as mot^ as stole a saddk 
«r bridle, mncb Icm a hone. 

Elder DoMiels comes m. 

£iJKK Dajtikls. Sorrj to disturb too, laSes; hat ihe 
Vigilance Committee bas taken a prisoner^ and tiier want 
tbe room to trj bim in. 

JxsBE. Boi tb^ cant trj bim till Sberiff Ken^ comes 
back from tbe wbarf. 

£u>Kx Dajteeia. Yes; but we bare to ke^ tbe ^is- 
000 beie tUl be comes. 

Bamst. What 60 TOO want to pot Inm here foe: Cant 
jam tie bni iq> in tike SbcnSts staUe! 

JLuHEM. Dajheul He has a sool io be sarcd, almost 
like tbe rest of ns. I am homi to trj to pnt some re- 
ligion into him before he goes into his Maker^s presence 
after tbe triaL 

HAsntAB, What has he done, Ifr. Dands? 

EuxM. D^jnELSL SUAc a 



4 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

Babsy. And are we to be turned out of the town hall 
for a horse-thief? Aint a stable good enough for his 
religion ? 

Elder Daniels. It may be good enough for his, 
Babsy; but, by your leave, it is not good enough for 
mine. While I am Elder here, I shall umbly endeavour 
to keep up the dignity of Him I serve to the best of my 
small ability. So I must ask you to be good enough to 
clear out. Allow me. [He takes the sack of husks and 
puts it out of the way against the panels of the jury 
box.] 

The Women [murmuring] That's always the way. 
Just as we'd settled down to work. What harm are we 
doing .^ Well, it is tiresome. Let them finish the job 
themselves. Oh dear, oh dear! We cant have a minute 
to ourselves. Shoving us out like that! 

Hannah. Whose horse was it, Mr Daniels? 

Elder Daniels [returning to move the other sack^ 
I am sorry to say it was the Sheriff's horse — the one he 
loaned to young Strapper. Strapper loaned it to me; 
and the thief stole it, thinking it was mine. If it had 
been mine, I'd have forgiven him cheerfully. I am sure 
I hoped he would get away; for he had two hours' start 
of the Vigilance Committe. But they caught him. [He 
disposes of the other sack also.] 

Jessie. It cant have been much of a horse if they 
caught him with two hours' start. 

Elder Daniels [coming back to the centre of the 
group] The strange thing is that he wasn't on the horse 
when they took him. He was walking; and of course he 
denies that he ever had the horse. The Sheriff's brother 
wanted to tiel him up and lash him till he confessed what 
he'd done wtih it; but I couldn't allow that: it's not the 
law. 

Babsy. Law! What right has a horse-thief to any 
law? Law is thrown away on a brute like that. 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 5 

Elder Daniels. Dont say that, Babsy. No man 
should be made to confess by cruelty until religion has 
been tried and failed. Please God I'll get the where- 
abouts of the horse from him if youU be so good as to 
clear out from this. [Disturbance outside.] They are 
bringing him in. Now_, ladies ; please, please. 

They rise reluctantly ; Hannah, Jessie, and Lottie re- 
treat to the Sheriff's bench, shepherded by Daniels; but 
the other rvomen crowd forrvard behind Babsy and 
Emma to see the prisoner. 

Blanco Posnet is brought in by Strapper Kemp, the 
Sheriff's brother, and a cross-eyed man called Squinty. 
Others follow. Blanco is evidently a blackguard. It 
would be necessary to clean him to make a close guess 
at his age; but he is under forty, and an upturned, red 
moustache, and the arrangement of his hair in a crest on 
his brow, proclaim the dandy in spite of his intense dis- 
reputableness. He carries his head high, and has a fair- 
ly resolute mouth, though the fire of incipient delirium 
tremens is in his eye. 

His arms are bound with a rope with a long end, 
which Squinty holds; but they release him when he en- 
ters, and he stretches himself and lounges across the 
courthouse in front of the women. Strapper and the 
men remain between him and the door. 

Babsy [^spitting at him as he passes her] Horse- 
thief ! horse-thief ! 

Others. You will hang for it; do you hear.^ And 
serve you right. Serve you right. That will teach 
you. I wouldnt wait to try you. Lynch him straight 
off, the varminst. Yes, yes. Tell the boys. Lynch 
him. 

Blanco [mocking] " Angels ever bright and fair — " 

Babsy. You call me an angel, and I'll smack your 
dirty face for you. 

Blanco. " Take, oh take me to your care." 



6 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

Emma. There wont be any angels where youre going 
to. 

Others. Aha! Devils^ more likely. And too good 
company for a horse-thief. 

All. Horse-thief! Horse-thief! Horse-thief! 

Blanco. Do women make the law here, or mcn.^* 
Drive these heifers out. 

The Women. Oh! [They rush at him, vituperating, 
screaming passionately, tearing at him. Lottie puts her 
fingers in her ears and runs out. Hannah follows, shak- 
ing her head. Blanco is thrown down]. Oh, did you 
hear what lie called us ? You foul-mouthed brute ! You 
liar ! How dare you put such a name to a decent woman ? 
Let me get at him. You coward ! Oh, he struck me ; did 
you see that ? Lynch him ! Pete, will you stand by and 
hear me called names by a skunk like that? Burn him! 
burn him ! That's what I'd do with him. Aye, burn him ! 

The Men [pulling the women away from Blanco, and 
getting them out partly by violence and partly by coax- 
ing'] Here; come out of this. Let him alone. Clear the 
courthouse. Come on now. Out with you. Now, Sally; 
out you go. Let go my hair, or I'll twist your arm out. 
Ah, M^ould you? Now, then; get along. You know you 
must go. Whats the use of scratching like that? Now, 
ladies, ladies, ladies. How would you like it if you were 
going to be hanged? 

At last the women are pushed out, leaving Elder Dan- 
iels, the Sheriff's brother Strapper Kemp, and a few 
others with Blanco. Strapper is a lad just turning into 
a man — strong, selfish, sulky, and determined. 

DANIELS, BLANCO, STRAPPER. 

Blanco [sitting up and tidying himself] — 

Oh woman, in our hours of ease, 
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please. 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 7 

Is my face scratched ? I can feel their damned claws all 
over me still. Am I bleeding? [He sits on the nearest 
bench^. 

Elder Daniels. Nothing to hurt. Theyve drawn a 
drop or two under your left eye. 

Strapper. Lucky for you to have an eye left in your 
head. 

Blanco [wiping the blood off] — 

When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
A ministering angel thou. 

Go out to them, Strapper Kemp, and tell them about 
your big brother's little horse that some wicked man 
stole. Go and cry in your mammy's lap. 

Strapper [furious] You jounce me any more about 
that horse, Blanco Posnet, and I'll — I'll — 

Blanco. Youll scratch my face, wont you? Yah! 
Your brother's the Sheriff, aint he ? 

Strapper. Yes, he is. He hangs horse-thieves. 

Blanco [with calm conviction] He's a rotten Sheriff. 
Oh, a rotten Sheriff. If he did his first duty he'd hang 
himself. This is a rotten town. Your fathers came here 
on a false alarm of gold-digging; and when the gold 
didnt pan out, they lived by licking their young into 
habits of honest industry. 

Strapper. If I hadnt promised Elder Daniels here to 
give him a chance to keep you out of Hell, I'd take the 
job of twisting your neck off the hands of the Vigilance 
Committee. 

Blanco [with infinite scorn] You and j'^our rotten 
Elder, and your rotten Vigilance Committee. 

Strapper. Theyre sound enough to hang a horse- 
thief, anyhow. 

Blanco. Any fool can hang the wisest man in the 
country. Nothing he likes better. But you cant hang 
me. 



8 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

Strapper. Cant we? 

Blanco. No, you cant. I left the town this morning 
before sunrise, because it's a rotten town, and I couldn't 
bear to see it in the light. Your brother's horse did the 
same, as any sensible horse would. Instead of going to 
look for the horse, you went looking for me. That was a 
rotten thing to do, because the horse belonged to your 
brother — or to the man he stole it from — and I dont be- 
long to him. Well, you found me: but you didnt find 
the horse. If I had took the horse, I'd have been on 
the horse. Would I have taken all that time to get to 
where I did if I'd a horse to carry me? 

Strapper. I dont believe you started not for two 
hours after you say you did. 

Blanco. Who cares what you believe or dont believe? 
Is a man worth six of j^ou to be hanged because youve 
lost your big brother's horse, and youll want to kill 
somebody to relieve your rotten feelings when he licks 
you for it? Not likely. Till you can find a witness that 
saw me with that horse you cant touch me ; and you know 
it. 

Strapper. Is that the low. Elder? 

Elder Daniels. The Sheriff knows the law. I 
wouldn't say for sure ; but I think it would be more seem- 
ly to have a witness. Go and round one up. Strapper; 
and leave me here alone to wrestle with his poor blinded 
soul. 

Strapper. I'll get a witness all right enough. I know 
the road he took; and I'll ask at every house within 
sight of it for a mile out. Come, boys. 

Strapper goes out with the others, leaving Blanco and 
Elder Daniels together. Blanco rises and strolls over 
to the Elder, surveying him with infinite disparage- 
ment. 

Blanco. Well, brother? Well, Boozy Posnett, alias 
Elder Daniels. Well, thief? Well, drunkard? 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 9 

Elder Daniels. It's no good^ Blanco. They 11 never 
believe we're brothers. 

Blanco. Never fear. Do you suppose I want to 
claim you.'' Do you suppose I'm proud of you? Youre 
a rotten brother^ Boozy Posnett. All you ever did when 
I owned you was to borrow money from me to get drunk 
with. Now you lend money and sell drink to other peo- 
ple. I was ashamed of you before; and I'm worse 
ashamed of you now. I wont have you for a brother. 
Heaven gave you to me; but I return the blessing with- 
out thanks. So be easy; I shant blab. [He turns his 
back on him and sits down]. 

Elder Daniels. I tell you they wouldnt believe you; 
so what does it matter to me whether you blab or not.f^ 
Talk sense^ Blanco: theres no time for your foolery now; 
for youll be a dead man an hour after the Sheriff comes 
back. What possessed you to steal that horse? 

Blanco. I didn't steal it. I distrained on it for what 
you owed me. I thought it was yours. I was a fool to 
think that you owned anything but other people's prop- 
erty. You laid your hands on everything father and 
mother had when they died. I never asked you for a fair 
share. I never asked you for all the money I'd lent you 
from time to time. I asked you for mother's old neck- 
lace with the hair locket in it. You wouldnt give me 
that: you wouldnt give me anything. So as you refused 
me my due I took it^ just to give you a lesson. 

Elder Daniels. Why didnt you take the necklace if 
you must steal something? They wouldnt have hanged 
you for that. 

Blanco. Perhaps I'd rather be hanged for stealing a 
horse than let off for a damned piece of sentimentality. 

Elder Daniels. Oh, Blanco, Blanco: spiritual pride 
has been your ruin. If youd only done like me, youd be a 
free and respectable man this day instead of laying there 
with a rope round your neck. 



10 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

Blanco [turning on him] Done like you! What do 
you mean ? Drink like you, eh ? Well, Ive done some of 
that lately. I see things. 

Elder Daniels. Too late, Blanco: too late. [Con- 
vulsively] Oh, why didnt you drink as I used to? Why 
didnt you drink as I was led to by the Lord for my good, 
until the time came for me to give it up } It was drink 
that saved my character when I was a young man ; and it 
was the want of it that spoiled yours. Tell me this. Did 
I ever get drunk when I was working? 

Blanco. No; but then you never worked when you 
had money enough to get drunk. 

Elder Daniels. That just shews the wisdom of 
Providence and the Lord's mercy. God fulfils himself in 
many ways — ways we little think of when we try to set 
up our own shortsighted laws against his Word. When 
does the Devil catch hold of a man? Not when he's 
working and not when he's drunk; but when he's idle 
and sober. Our own natures tell us to drink when we 
have nothing else to do. Look at you and me ! When 
we'd both earned a pocket full of money, what did we 
do? Went on the spree, naturally. But I was humble 
minded. I did as the rest did. I gave my money in at 
the drink-shop ; and I said, " Fire me out when I have 
drunk it all up." Did you ever see me sober while it 
lasted ? 

Blanco. No: and you looked so disgusting that I 
wonder it didnt set me against drink for the rest of my 
life. 

Elder Daniels. That was your spiritual pride, Blan- 
co. You never reflected that when I was drunk I was in 
a state of innocence. Temptations and bad company and 
evil thoughts passed by me like the summer wind as you 
might say: I was too drunk to notice them. When the 
money was gone, and they fired me out, I was fired out 
like gold out of the furnace^ with my character unspoiled 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 11 

and unspotted; and when I went back to work the work 
kept mc steady. Can you say as much, Blanco? Did 
your holidays leave your character unspoiled ? Oh, 
no, no. It was theatres: it was gambling: it was evil 
company: it was reading vain romances: it was women, 
Blanco, women : it was wrong thoughts and gnawing dis- 
content. It ended in your becoming a rambled and a 
gambler: it is going to end this evening on the gallows 
tree. Oh, what a lesson against spiritual pride! Oh, 
what a — [Blanco throws his hat at him] . 

Blanco. Stow it. Boozy. Sling it. Cut it. Cheese 
it. Shut up. " Shake not the dying sinner's sand." 

Elder Daniels. Aye: there you go, with your scraps 
of lustful poetry. But you cant deny what I tell you. 
Why, do you think I would put my soul in peril by sell- 
ing drink if I thought it did no good, as them silly tem- 
perance reformers make out, flying in the face of the 
natural tastes implanted in us all for a good purpose.'' 
Not if I was to starve for it to-morrow. But I know 
better. I tell you, Blanco, what keeps America to-day 
the purest of the nations is that when she's not working 
she's too drunk to hear the voice of the tempter. 

Blanco. Dont deceive yourself. Boozy. You sell 
drink because you make a bigger profit out of it than 
you can by selling tea. And you gave up drink yourself 
because when you got that fit at Edwardstown the doctor 
told you youd die the next time ; and that frightened you 
off it. 

Elder Daniels [fervently] Oh thank God selling 
drink pays me. And thank God he sent me that fit as a 
warning that my drinking time was past and gone, and 
that he needed me for another service. 

Blanco. Take care, Boozy. He hasnt finished with 
you yet. He always has a trick up His sleeve — 

Elder Daniels. Oh, is that the way to speak of 
the ruler of the universe — the great and almighty God.'' 



12 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

Blanco. He's a sly one. He's a mean one. He lies 
low for you. He plays cat and mouse with you. He 
lets you run loose until you think youre shut of him: 
and theUj when you least expect it, he's got you. 

Elder Daniels. Speak more respectful, Blanco — 
more reverent. 

Blanco [springing up and coming at him] Rever- 
ent! Who taught you your reverent cant.^* Not your 
Bible. It says He cometh like a thief in the night — 
aye, like a thief — a horse-thief — 

Elder Daniels [shocked] Oh! 

Blanco [overbearing him] And it's true. Thats how 
He caught me and put my neck into the halter. To 
spite me because I had no use for Him — because I lived 
my own life in my own way, and would have no truck 
with His "Dont do this," and " You musnt do that," 
and " Youll go to Hell if you do the other." I gave 
Him the go-bye and did without Him all these years. 
But He caught me out at last. The laugh is with Him 
as far as hanging me goes. [He thrusts his hands into 
his pockets and lounges moodily arvay from Daniels, to 
the table, where he sits facing the jury box]. 

Elder Daniels. Dont dare to put your theft on Him 
man. It was the Devil tempted you to steal the horse. 

Blanco. Not a bit of it. Neither God nor Devil 
tempted me to take the horse: I took it on my own. 
He had a cleverer trick than that ready for me. [He 
takes his hands out of his pockets and clenches his 
fists]. Gosh! When I think that I might have been 
safe and fifty miles away by now with that horse; 
and here I am waiting to be hung up and filled with 
lead! What came to me? What made me such a fool.^ 
Thats what I want to know. Thats the great secret. 

Elder Daniels [at the opposite side of the table] 
Blanco ! the great secret now is, what did you do with 
the horse .^ 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 13 

Blanco [striking the table with his fist] May my 
lips be blighted like my soul if ever I tell that to you 
or any mortal man. They may roast me alive or cut 
me to ribbons; but Strapper Kemp shall never have 
the laugh on me over that job. Let them hang me. 
Let them shoot. So long as they are shooting a man 
and not a snivelling skunk and softy, I can stand up 
to them and take all they can give me — game. 

Elder Daniels. Dont be headstrong, Blanco. Whats 
the use? [Slyly] They might let up on you if you 
put Strapper in the way of getting his brother's horse 
back. 

Blanco. Not they. Hanging's too big a treat for 
them to give up a fair chance. Ive done it myself. Ive 
yelled with the dirtiest of them when a man no worse 
than myself was swung up. Ive emptied my revolver 
into him, and persuaded myself that he deserved it and 
that I was doing justice with strong stern men. Well, 
my turn's come now. Let the men I yelled at and shot 
at look up out of Hell and see the boys yelling and 
shooting at me as I swing up. 

Elder Daniels. Well, even if you want to be 
hanged, is that any reason why Strapper shouldnt have 
his horse? I tell you I'm responsible to him for it. 
[Bending over the table and coaxing him]. Act like a 
brother, Blanco: tell me what you done with it. 

Blanco [shortly, getting up and leaving the table] 
Never you mind what I done with it. I was done out 
of it: let that be enough for you. 

Elder Daniels [following him] Then why dont you 
put us on to the man that done you out of it? 

Blanco. Because he'd be too clever for you, just 
as he was too clever for me. 

Elder Daniels. Make your mind easy about that, 
Blanco. He wont be too clever for the boys and Sheriff 
Kemp if you put them on his trail. 



14 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

Blanco. Yes^ he will. It wasnt a man. 

Elder Daniels. Then what was it.'' 

Blanco [pointing upward] Him. 

Elder Daniels. Oh what a way to utter His holy 
name ! 

Blanco. He done me out of it. He meant to pay 
off old scores by bringing me here. He means to win 
the deal and you cant stop Him. Well, He's made a 
fool of me; but He cant frighten me. I'm not going 
to beg off. I'll fight off if I get a chance. I'll lie off 
if they cant get a witness against me. But back down 
I never will, not if all the hosts of heaven come to 
snivel at me in white surplices and offer me life in 
exchange for an umble and a contrite heart. 

Elder Daniels. Youre not in your right mind, 
Blanco. I'll tell em youre mad. I believe theyll let 
you off on that. [He makes for the door] . 

Blanco [seising him, with horror in his eyes] Dont 
go : dont leave me alone : do you hear ? 

Elder Daniels. Has your conscience brought you to 
this, that j^oure afraid to be left alone in broad day- 
light, like a child in the dark. 

Blanco. I'm afraid of Him and His tricks. When 
I have you to raise the devil in me — when I have people 
to shew off before and keep me game, I'm all right; 
but Ive lost my nerve for being alone since this morn- 
ing. It's when youre alone that He takes His advan- 
tage. He might turn my head again. He might send 
people to me — not real people perhaps. [Shivering] 
By God, I dont believe that woman and the child were 
real. I dont. I never noticed them till they were at 
my elbow. 

Elder Daniels. "What woman and what child? What 
are you talking about? Have you been drinking too 
hard? 

Blanco. Never you mind. Youve got to stay with 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 15 

me: thats all; or else send someone else — someone rot- 
tener than yourself to keep the devil in me. Strapper 
Kemp will do. Or a few of those scratching devils of 
women. 

Strapper Kemp comes hack. 

Elder Daniels [to Strapper^ He's gone off his 
head. 

Strapper. Foxing, more likely. [Going past Daniels 
and talking to Blanco nose to nose^. It's no good: we 
hang madmen here and a good job too. 

Blanco. I feel safe with you. Strapper. Youre one 
of the rottenest. 

Strapper. You know youre done, and that you may 
as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. So talk 
away. Ive got my witness; and I'll trouble you not to 
make a move towards her when she comes in to identify 
you. 

Blanco [retreating in terror^ A woman .^ She aint 
real: neither is the child. 

Elder Daniels. He's raving about a woman and a 
child. I tell you he's gone off his chump. 

Strapper [calling to those without] Shew the lady 
in there. 

Feemy Evans comes in. She is a young woman of 
23 or 24, with impudent manners, battered good looks, 
and dirty fine dress. 

Elder Daniels. Morning, Feemy. 

Feemy. Morning, Elder. [She passes on and slips 
her arm familiarly through Strapper's]. 

Strapper. Ever see h i m before, Feemy ? 

Feemy. Thats the little lot that was on your horse 
this morning, Strapper. Not a doubt of it. 

Blanco [implacably contemptuous] Go home and 
wash yourself, you slut. 

Feemy [reddening, and disengaging her arm from 
Strapper's] I'm clean enough to hang you, anyway. 



16 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

[ Going over to him threateningly ] . Youre no true 
American man, to insult a woman like that. 

Blanco. A woman! Oh Lord! You saw me on a 
horse, did you? 

Feemy. Yes I did. 

Blanco. Got up early on purpose to do it, didnt 
you.^ 

Feemy. No I didnt: I stayed up late on a spree. 

Blanco. I was on a horse, was I.^ 

Feemy. Yes you were; and if you deny it youre a 
liar. 

Blanco [to Strapper] She saw a man on a horse 
when she was too drunk to tell which was the man and 
which was the horse 

Feemy [breaking in] You lie. I wasn't drunk — at 
least not as drunk as that. 

Blanco [ignoring the interruption] — and you foimd 
a man without a horse. Is a man on a horse the same 
as a man on foot? Yah! Take your witness away. 
Who's going to believe her? Shove her into the dust- 
bin. Youve got to find that horse before you get a 
rope round m y neck. [He turns away from her con- 
temptuously, and sits at the table with his back to the 
jury box]. 

Feemy [following him] I'll hang you, you dirty 
horse-thief; or not a man in this camp will ever get a 
word or a look from me again. You're just trash: thats 
what you are. White trash. 

Blanco. And what are you, darling? What are you? 
Youre a worse danger to a town like this than ten 
horse- thieves. 

Feemy. Mr. Kemp: will you stand by and hear me 
insulted in that low way? [To Blanco, spitefully]. I'll 
see you swung up and I'll see you cut down: I'll see 
you high and I'll see you low, as dangerous as I am. 
[He laughs]. Oh you neednt try to brazen it out. 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 17 

YouU look white enough before the boys are done with 
you. 

Blanco. You do me good, Feemy. Stay by me to 
the end, wont you. Hold my hand to the last; and I'll 
die game. [He puts out his hand: she strikes savagely 
at it; hut he withdraws it in time and laughs at her 
discomfiture^ . 

Feemy. You — 

Elder Daniels. Never mind him, Feemy: he's not 
right in his head to-day. [She receives the assurance 
with contemptuous incredulity, and sits down on the 
step of the Sheriff's dais]. 

Sheriff Kemp comes in: a stout man, with large flat 
ears, and a neck thicker than his head. 

Elder Daniels. Morning, Sheriff. 

The Sheriff. Morning, Elder. [Passing on]. Morn- 
ing, Strapper. [Passing on]. Morning, Miss Evans. 
[Stopping between Strapper and Blanco]. Is this the 
prisoner ? 

Blanco [rising] Thats so. Morning, Sheriff. 

The Sheriff. Morning. You know, I suppose, that 
if youve stole a horse and the jury find against you, you 
wont have any time to settle your affairs. Consequent- 
ly, if you feel guilty, youd better settle em now. 

Blanco. Affairs be damned! Ive got none. 

The Sheriff. Well, are you in a proper state of 
mind.^ Has the Elder talked to you? 

Blanco. He has. And I say it's against the law. 
It's torture: thats what it is. 

Elder Daniels. He's not accountable. He's out of 
his mind. Sheriff. He's not fit to go into the presence 
of his Maker. 

The Sheriff. You are a merciful man. Elder; but 
you wont take the boys with you there. [To Blanco]. 
If it comes to hanging you, youd better for your own 
sake be hanged in a proper state of mind than in an 



18 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

improper one. But it wont make any difference to us: 
make no mistake about that. 

Blanco. Lord keep me wicked till I die ! Now Ive 
said my little prayer. I'm ready. Not that I'm 
guilty, mind you; but this is a rotten town, dead certain 
to do the wrong thing. 

The Sheriff. You wont be asked to live long in it, 
I guess. [To Strapper] Got the witness all right. 
Strapper ? 

Strapper. Yes, got everything. 

Blanco. Except the horse. 

The Sheriff. Whats that? Aint you got the horse? 

Strapper. No. He traded it before we overtook him, 
I guess. But Feemy saw him on it. 

Feemy. She did. 

Strapper. Shall I call in the boys? 

Blanco. Just a moment. Sheriff. A good appearance 
is everything in a low-class place like this. [He takes 
out a pocket comb and mirror, and retires towards the 
dais to arrange his hair] . 

Elder Daniels. Oh, think of your immortal soul, 
man, not of your foolish face. 

Blanco. I cant change my soul, Elder: it changes 
me — sometimes. Feemy: I'm too pale. Let me rub 
my cheek against yours, darling. 

Feemy. You lie : my color's my own, such as it is. 
And a pretty color youll be when youre hung white 
and shot red. 

Blanco. Aint she spiteful. Sheriff? 

The Sheriff. Time's wasted on you. [To Strap- 
per] Go and see if the boys are ready. Some of them 
were short of cartridges, and went down to the store 
to buy them. They may as well have their fun; and 
it will be shorter for him. 

Strapper. Young Jack has brought a boxful up. 
Theyre all ready. 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 19 

The Sheriff [going to the dais and addressing 
Blanco] Your place is at the bar there. Take it. 
[Blanco bows ironically and goes to the bar] . Miss 
Evans: youd best sit at the table. [She does so, at the 
corner nearest the bar. The Elder takes the opposite 
corner. The Sheriff takes his chair]. All ready^ Strap- 
per. 

Strapper [at the door] All in to begin. 

[The crowd comes in and fills the court. Babsy, Jes- 
sie, and Emma come to the Sheriff's right; Hannah and 
Lottie to his left]. 

The Sheriff. Silence there. The jury will take their 
places as usual. [They do so]. 

Blanco. I challenge this jury, Sheriff. 

The Foreman. Do you, by Gosh.'' 

The Sheriff. On what ground.^ 

Blanco. On the general ground that it's a rotten 
jury. [Laughter]. 

The Sheriff. That's not a lawful ground of chal- 
lenge. 

The Foreman. It's a lawful ground for me to shoot 
yonder skunk at sight, first time I meet him, if he 
survives this trial. 

Blanco. I challenge the Foreman because he's preju- 
diced. 

The Foreman. I say you lie. We mean to hang you, 
Blanco Posnet; but you will be hanged fair. 

The Jury. Hear, hear ! 

Strapper [to the Sheriff] George! this is rot. How 
can you get an unprejudiced jury if the prisoner starts 
by telling them theyre all rotten? If theres any preju- 
dice against him he has himself to thank for it. 

The Boys. Thats so. Of course he has. Insulting 
the court! Challenge, be jiggered! Gag him. 

Nestor [a juryman with a long white beard, drunk, 
the oldest man present] Besides, Sheriff, I go so far 



20 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

as to say that the man that is not prejudiced against a 
horse-thief is not fit to sit on a jury in this town. 

The Boys. Right. Bully for you^ Nestor. Thats 
the straight truth. Of course he aint. Hear, hear ! 

The Sheriff. That is no doubt true, old man. Still, 
you must get as unprejudiced as you can. The critter 
has a right to his chance, such as he is. So now go 
right ahead. If the prisoner dont like this jury, he 
should have stole a horse in another town; for this is 
all the jury he'll get here. 

The Foreman. Thats so, Blanco Posnet. 

The Sheriff [to Blanco] Dont you be uneasy. You 
will get justice here. It may be rough justice; but it 
is justice. 

Blanco. What is justice? 

The Sheriff. Hanging horse-thieves is justice; so 
now you know. Now then: weve wasted enough time. 
Hustle with your witness there, will you? 

Blanco [indignantly bringing down his fist on the 
bar] Swear the jury. A rotten Sheriff you are not to 
know that the jury's got to be sworn. 

The Foreman [galled] Be swore for you ! Not like- 
ly. What do y o u say, old son ? 

Nestor [deliberately and solemnly] I say: Guilty!!! 

The Boys [tumultuously rushing at Blanco] Thats 
it. Guilty, guilty. Take him out and hang him. He's 
found guilty. Fetch a rope. Up with him. [They are 
about to drag him from the bar] . 

The Sheriff [rising, pistol in hand] Hands off that 
man. Hands oft' him, I say, Squinty, or I drop you, and 
would if you were my own son. [Dead silence]. I'm 
Sheriff here ; and it's for me to say when he may lawfully 
be hanged. [They release him], 

Blanco. As the actor sez in the play, " a Daniel 
come to judgment." Rotten actor he was, too. 

The Sheriff. Elder Daniel is come to judgment all 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 21 

right, my lad. Elder: the floor is yours. [The Elder 
rises]. Give your evidence. The truth and the whole 
truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God. 

Elder Daniels. Sheriff: let me off this. I didnt 
ought to swear away this man's life. He and I are, in a 
manner of speaking, brothers. 

The Sheriff. It does you credit. Elder: every man 
here will acknowledge it. But religion is one thing: law 
is another. In religion we're all brothers. In law we 
cut our brother off when he steals horses. 

The Foreman. Besides, you neednt hang him, you 
know. Theres plenty of willing hands to take that job 
off your conscience. So rip ahead, old son. 

Strapper. Youre accountable to me for the horse un- 
til you clear yourself. Elder: remember that. 

Blanco. Out with it, you fool. 

Elder Daniels. You might own up, Blanco, as far 
as my evidence goes. Everybody knows I borrowed one 
of the Sheriff's horses from Strapper because my own's 
gone lame. Everybody knows you arrived in the town 
yesterday and put up in my house. Everybody knows 
that in the morning the horse was gone and you were 
gone. 

Blanco [in a forensic manner] Sheriff: the Elder, 
though known to you and to all here as no brother of 
mine and the rottenest liar in this town, is speaking the 
truth for the first time in his life as far as what he sez 
about me is concerned. As to the horse I say nothing, 
except that it was the rottenest horse you ever tried to 
sell. 

The Sheriff. How do you know it was a rotten horse 
if you didnt steal it? 

Blanco. I d o n t know of my own knowledge. I 
only argue that if the horse had been worth its keep, you 
wouldnt have lent it to Strapper, and Strapper wouldnt 
have lent it to this eloquent and venerable ram. [Sup- 



22 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

pressed taughter]. And now I ask him this. [To the 
Elder] Did we or did we not have a quarrel last evefl- 
ing about a certain article that was left by my mother, 
and that I considered I had a right to more than you? 
And did you say one word to me about the horse not 
belonging to you? 

Elder DaNieIs. Why should I? We never said a 
word about the horse at all. How was I to know what 
it was in your mind to do? 

Blanco. Bear witness all that I had a right to take a 
horse from him without stealing to make up for what he 
denied me. I am no thief. But you havnt proved yet 
that I took the horse. Strapper Kemp: had I the horise 
when you took me or had I not? 

Strapper. No, nor you hadnt a railway train neither. 
But Feemy Evans saw you pass on the horse at four 
o'clock twenty-five miles from the spot where I took you 
at seven. Did you walk twenty-five miles iti three hours ? 
That so, Feemy: eh? 

Feemy. Thats so. At four I saw him. [To Blanch] 
Thats done for you. 

The Sheriff. You say you saw him on my horse? 

Feemy. I did. 

Blanco. And 1 ate it, I suppose, before Strapper 
fetched up with me. [Suddenly and dramatically^ 
Sheriff: I accuse Feemy of immoral relations with Strap- 
per. 

Feemy. Oh you liar ! 

Blanco. I accuse the fair Euphemia of immoral rela- 
tions with every man in this town, including yourself. 
Sheriff. I say this is a conspiracy to kill me between 
Feemy and Strapper because I wouldnt touch Feemy 
with a pair of tongs. I say you darent hang any white 
man on the word of a woman of bad character. I stand 
on the honor and virtue of my American manhood. I 
say that she's not had the oath, and that you darent for 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 23 

the honor of the town give her the oath because her lip§ 
would blasphepae the holy Bible jf they touched it. I 
say thats the law; and if you are a proper United States 
Sheriff and not a low-down lyncher, you'll hold up the 
law and not let it be dragged in the mud by your broth- 
er's kept woman. 

[Great excitement among the women. The men much 
puzzled^ . 

Jessie. Thats right. She didnt ought to be let kiss 
the Book. 

Emma. How could the like of her tell the truth ? 

Babsv. It would be an insult to every respectable 
woman here to believe her. 

Feemy. It's easy to be respectable with nobody ever 
offering you a chance to be anything else. 

The Women [clamoring all together'\ Shut up^ you 
hussy. Youre a disgrace. How dare you open your 
lips to answer your betters? Hold your tongue and 
learn your place, miss. You painted slut! Whip her 
out of the town ! 

The Sheriff. Silence. Do you hear. Silence. [The 
clamor ceases]. Did anyone else see the prisoner with 
the horse? 

Fepmy [passionately] Aint I good enough? 

Babsy. No. Youre dirt: thats what you are. 

Feemy. And you — 

The Sheriff. Silence. This trial is a man's job; and 
if the women forget their sex they can go out or be put 
out. Strapper and Miss Evans : you cant have it two 
ways. You can run straight^ or you can run gay, so to 
speak; but you cant run both ways together. There is 
also a strong feeling among the men of this town that a 
line should be drawn between those that are straight 
wives and mothers and those that are, in the words of the 
Book of Books, taking the primrose path. We dont wish 
to be hard on any woman; and most of us have a per- 



24 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

sonal regard for Miss Evans for the sake of old times; 
but theres no getting out of the fact that she has private 
reasons for wishing to oblige Strapper, and that — if she 
will excuse my saying so — she is not what I might call 
morally particular as to what she does to oblige him. 
Therefore I ask the prisoner not to drive us to give Miss 
Evans the oath. I ask him to tell us fair and square, as 
a man who has but a few minutes between him and eter- 
nity, what he done with my horse. 

The Boys. Hear, hear ! Thats right. Thats fair. 
That does it. Now Blanco. Own up. 

Blanco. Sheriff: you touch me home. This is a rot- 
ten world; but there is still one thing in it that remains 
sacred even to the rottenest of us, and that is a horse. 

The Boys. Good. Well said, Blanco. Thats straight. 

Blanco. You have a right to your horse. Sheriff; and 
if I could put you in the way of getting it back, I would. 
But if I had that horse I shouldnt be here. As I hope to 
be saved. Sheriff — or rather as I hope to be danmed; 
for I have no taste for pious company and no talent for 
playing the harp — I know no more of that horse's 
whereabouts than you do yourself. 

Strapper. Who did you trade him to? 

Blanco. I did not trade him. I got nothing for him 
or by him. I stand here with a rope round my neck for 
the want of him. WTien you took me, did I fight like a 
thief or run like a thief; and was there any sign of a 
horse on me or near me.^ 

Strapper. You were looking at a rainbow like a 
damned silly fool instead of keeping your wits about 
you; and we stole up on you and had you tight before 
you could draw a bead on us. 

The Sheriff. That dont sound like good sense. 
What would he look at a rainbow for ? 

Blanco. I'll tell you. Sheriff? I was lookin at it be- 
cause there was somethin written on it. 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 25 

Sheriff. How do you mean written on it? 

Blanco. The words were, " Ive got the cinch on you 
this time, Blanco Posnet." Yes, Sheriff, I saw those 
words in green on the red streak of the rainbow; and as 
I saw them I felt Strapper's grab on my arm and Squin- 
ty's on my pistol. 

The Foreman. He's shammin mad: thats what he is. 
Aint it about time to give a verdict and have a bit of 
fun, Sheriff.'' 

The Boys. Yes, lets have a verdict. We're wasting 
the whole afternoon. Cut it short. 

The Sheriff [making up his mind] Swear Feemy 
Evans, Elder. She dont need to touch the Book. Let 
her say the words. 

Feemy. Worse people than me has kissed that Book. 
What wrong Ive done, most of you went shares in. Ive 
to live, havnt I, same as the rest of you. However, it 
makes no odds to me. I guess the truth is the truth and 
a lie is a lie, on the Book or off it. 

Babsy. Do as youre told. Who are you, to be let 
talk about it? 

The Sheriff. Silence there, I tell you. Sail ahead, 
Elder. 

Elder Daniels. Feemy Evans: do you swear to tell 
the truth and the whole truth and nothing but the truth, 
so help you God. 

Feemy. I do, so help me — 

Sheriff. Thats enough. Now, on your oath, did you 
see the prisoner on my horse this morning on the road 
to Pony Harbor? 

Feemy. On my oath — [Disturbance and crowding at 
the door]. 

At the Door. Now then, now then ! Where are you 
shovin to? Whats up? Order in court. Chuck him 
out. Silence. You cant come in here. Keep back. 

Strapper rushes to the door and forces his way out. 



2^ The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

Sheriff [savagely] ^\Tiats this noise? Cant you 
keep quiet there? Is this a Sheriff's court or is it a 
saloon ? 

Blanco. Dont interrupt a lady in the act of hanging 
a gentleman. Where's your manners? 

Feemy. I'll hang you^ Blanco Posnet. J will. I 
wouldnt for fifty dollars I hadnt seen you this morning. 
I'll teach you to be civil to me next time, for all I'm not 
good enough to kiss the Book. 

Blanco. Lord keep me wicked till I die! I'm game 
for anything while youre spitting dirt at me, f>emy. 

Renewed Tumult at the Door. Here, whats this? 
Fire them out. Not me. Who are you that I should get 
out of your way? Oh, stow it. Well, she cant come in. 
What woman? What horse? Whats the good of shov- 
ing like that? Who sez? No! you dont say! 

The Sheriff. Gentlemen of the Vigilance Commit- 
tee: clear that doorway. Out with them in the name of 
the law. 

Strapper [without] Hold hard, George. [At the 
door] Theyve got the horse. [He comes in, followed 
hy Waggoner Jo, an elderly carter, who crosses the court 
to the jury side. Strapper pushes his way to the Sheriff 
and speaks privately to him]. 

The Boys. What! No! Got the horse! Sheriff's 
horse ? Who took it, then ? Where ? Get out. Yes it is, 
sure. I tell you it is. It's the horse all right enough. 
Jlot. Go and look. By Gum ! 

The Sheriff [to Strapper] You dont say! 

Strapper. It's here, I tell you. 

Waggoner Jo. It's here, all right enough. Sheriff. 

Strapper. And theyve got the thief too. 

Elder Daniels. Then it aint Blanco. 

Strapper. No: it's a woman. [Blanco yells and cov- 
ers his eyes with his hands]. 

The Whole Crowd. A womqn! 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 27 

The StiEtLifF. Well, fetch her ifi. [Strapper goes 
out. The Sheriff continues, to Feemp] And what do 
^ o u mean, you lying jdde^ by ptitting up this Story on 
us about Blanco? 

Feemy. I aint put up no stoty on you. This is a 
plant: you see if it isnt. 

Strapper returns rvith a woman. Her expression Of 
intense gritf silences ihefn as they crane over one an- 
other's heads to See her. Strapper takes her to the cor- 
ner of the table. The Eldet moves up to make room for 
her. 

Blanco [terrified] Sheriff: that woman aint real. 
You take cafe. That womau will make you do what you 
never intended. Thats the rainbow woman. Thats the 
woman that brought me to this. 

The Sh^jrif*'. Shut your mouthy will you. Youve got 
the horrors. [To the woman] Now you. Who are you? 
and what are you doing with a horse that doesnt belong 
to you? 

The Woman. I took it to save my child's life. I 
thought it would get me to a doctor in time. It was 
choking with croup. 

Blanco [strangling, and trying to laugh] A littlC 
choker: thats the word for him. His choking wasnt 
real: wait and see mine. [He feels his neck with a 
sob]. 

The Sheriff. Where's the child? 

Strapper. On Pug Jackson's bench in his shed. He's 
makin a coffin for it. 

Blanco [with a horrible convulsion of the throat — 
frantically] Dead! The little Judas kid! The child 
I gave my life for! [He breaks into hideous laughter]. 

The Sheriff [jarred beyond endurance by the 
sound] Hold your noise, will you? Shove his necker- 
chief into his mouth if he dont stop. [To the woman] 
Dont you mind him, maam: he's mad with drink and 



28 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

devilment. I suppose theres no fake about this. Strap- 
per. Who found her.'' 

Waggoner Jo. I did, Sheriff. Theres no fake about 
it. I came on her on the track round by red mountain. 
She was settin on the ground with the dead body on her 
lap, stupid-like. The horse was grazin on the other side 

the road. 

The Sheriff [puzzled] Well, this is blamed queer. 
[To the woman] What call had you to take the horse 
from Elder Daniels' stable to find a doctor? Theres a 
doctor in the very next house. 

Blanco [mopping his dabbled red crest and trying to 
be ironically gay] Story simply wont wash, my angel. 
You got it from the man that stole the horse. He gave 
it to you because he was a softy and went to bits when 
you played off the sick kid on him. Well, I guess that 
clears me. I'm not that sort. Catch me puttin my neck 
in a noose for anybody's kid! 

The Foreman. Dont you go putting her up to what 
to say. She said she took it. 

The Woman. Yes : I took it from a man that met me. 

1 thought God sent him to me. I rode here joyfully 
thinking so all the time to myself. Then I noticed that 
the child was like lead in my arms. God would never 
have been so cruel as to send me the horse to disappoint 
me like that. 

Blanco. Just what he would do. 

Strapper. We aint got nothin to do with that. This 
is the man, isnt he? [He points to Blanco]. 

The Woman [pulling herself together after looking 
scaredly at Blanco, and then at the Sheriff and at the 
jury] No. 

The Foreman. You lie. 

The Sheriff. Youve got to tell us the truth. Thats 
the law, you know. 

The Woman. The man looked a bad man. He cursed 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 29 

me; and he cursed the child: God forgive him! But 
something came over him. I was desperate. I put the 
child in his arms; and it got its little fingers down his 
neck and called him Daddy and tried to kiss him; for it 
was not right in its head with the fever. He said it was 
a little Judas kid, and that it was betraying him with a 
kiss, and that he'd swing for it. And then he gave me 
the horse, and went away crying and laughing and 
singing dreadful dirty wicked words to hymn tunes like 
as if he had seven devils in him. 

Strapper. She's lying. Give her the oath, George. 

The Sheriff. Go easy there. Youre a smart boy. 
Strapper; but youre not Sheriff yet. This is my job. 
You just wait. I submit that we are in a difficulty here. 
If Blanco was the man, the lady cant, as a white woman, 
give him away. She oughtnt to be put in the position of 
having either to give him away or commit perjury. On 
the other hand, we dont want a horse-thief to get off 
through a lady's delicacy. 

The Foreman. No we dont; and we dont intend he 
shall. Not while I am foreman of this jury. 

Blanco [with intense expression] A rotten foreman! 
Oh, what a rotten foreman ! 

The Sheriff. Shut up, will you. Providence shows 
us a way out here. Two women saw Blanco with a 
horse. One has a delicacy about saying so. The other 
will excuse me saying that delicacy is not her strongest 
holt. She can give the necessary witness. Feemy 
Evans: youve taken the oath. You saw the man that 
took the horse. 

Feemy. I did. And he was a low-down rotten 
drunken lying hound that would go further to hurt a 
woman any day than to help her. And if he ever did 
a good action it was because he was too drunk to know 
what he was doing. So it's no harm to hang him. She 
said he cursed her and went away blaspheming and 



80 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

sieging things that were not fit for the child to 
hear. 

Blanco. I didn't mean them for the child to hear, 
you venomous devil. 

The Sheriff. All thats got nothing to do with us. 
The question you have to answer is, was that man 
Blanco Posnet.'* 

The Woman. No. I say no. I swear it. Sheriff: 
dont hang that man: oh dont. You may hang me in- 
stead if you like: Ive nothing to live for now. You 
darent take her word against mine. She never had a 
child: I can see it in her face. 

Feemy [stung to the quick] I can hang him in spite 
of you, anyhow. Much good your child is to you now, 
lying there on Pug Jackson's bench. 

Blanco [rushing at her with a shriek] I'll twist your 
heart out for saying that. [They seize him before he can 
reach her]. 

Feemy [mocking him as he struggles to get at her] 
Ha, ha, Blanco Posnet. You cant touch me; and I can 
hang you. Ha, ha ! Oh, I'll do for you. I'll twist 
your heart and I'll twist your neck. [He is dragged 
back to the bar and leans on it, gasping and exhausted] . 
Give me the oath again. Elder. I'll settle him. And 
do you [to the rvoman] take your sickly face away from 
in front of me. 

Strapper. Just turn your back on her there, will 
you? 

The Woman. God knows I dont want to see her com- 
mit murder. [She folds her shawl over her head]. 

The Sheriff. Now, Miss Evans: cut it short. Was 
the prisoner the man you saw this morning or was he 
not? Yes or no? 

Feemy [a little hysterically] I'll tell you fast enough. 
Dont think I'm a softy. 

The Sheriff [losing patience] Here: weve had 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 81 

enough of this. You tell the truth, Feemy Evans; and 
let us have no more of your lip. Was the prisoner the 
man or was he not.^ On your oath.f^ 

Feemy. On my oath and as I'm a living woman — 
[flinching] Oh God! he felt the little child's hands on 
his neck — I cant [bursting into a flood of tears and 
scolding at the other woman] It's you with your sniv- 
elling face that has put me off it. [Desperately] No; 
it wasnt him. I only said it out of spite because he in- 
sulted me. May I be struck dead if I ever saw him with 
the horse! 

Everybody draws a long breath. Dead silence. 

Blanco [whispering at her] Softly. Cry-baby. 
Landed like me. Doin what you never intended. [Tak- 
ing up his hat and speaking in his ordinary tone] I 
presume I may go now, Sheriff. 

Strapper. Here, hold hard. 

The Foreman. Not if we know it, you dont. 

The Boys [barring the way to the door] You stay 
where you are. Stop a bit, stop a bit. Dont you be 
in such a hurry. Dont let him go. Not much. 

Blanco stands motionless, his eye fixed, thinking hard, 
and apparently deaf to what is going on. 

The Sheriff [rising solemnly] Silence there. Wait 
a bit. I take it that if the Sheriff is satisfied and the 
owner of the horse is satisfied, theres no more to be 
said. I have had to remark on former occasions that 
what is wrong with this court is that theres too many 
Sheriffs in it. To-day there is going to be one, and 
only one; and that one is your humble servant. I call 
that to the notice of the Foreman of the jury, and also 
to the notice of young Strapper. I am also the owner 
of the horse. Does any man say I am not? [Silence]. 
Very well, then. In my opinion, to commandeer a horse 
for the purpose of getting a dying child to a doctor is 
not stealing, provided, as in the present case, that the 



32 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

horse is returned safe and sound. I rule that there has 
been no theft. 

Nestor. That aint the law. 

The Sheriff. I fine you a dollar for contempt of 
courts and will collect it myself off you as you leave the 
building. And as the boys have been disappointed of 
their natural sport, I shall give them a little fun by 
standing outside the door and taking up a collection for 
the bereaved mother of the late kid that shewed up 
Blanco Posnet. 

The Boys. A collection. Oh, I say! Calls that 
sport? Is this a mothers' meeting? Well, I'll be jig- 
gered! Where does the sport come in? 

The Sheriff [continuing] The sport comes in, my 
friends, not so much in contributing as in seeing others 
fork out. Thus each contributes to the general enjoy- 
ment; and all contribute to his. Blanco Posnet: you 
go free under the protection of the Vigilance Committee 
for just long enough to get out of this town, which is 
not a healthy place for you. As you are in a hurry, I'll 
sell you the horse at a reasonable figure. Now, boys, 
let nobody go out till I get to the door. The court is 
adjourned. [He goes out]. 

Strapper [to Feemy, as he goes to the door] I'm 
done with you. Do you hear? I'm done with you. [He 
goes out sulkily]. 

Feemy [calling after him] As if I cared about a 
stingy brat like you! Go back to the freckled maypole 
you left for me; youve been fretting for her long 
enough. 

The Foreman [To Blanco on his way out] A man 
like you makes me sick. Just sick. [Blanco makes no 
sign. The Foreman spits disgustedly, and follows 
Strapper out. The Jurymen leave the box, except Nes- 
tor, who collapses in a drunken sleep]. 

Blanco [Suddenly rushing from the bar to the table 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 33 

and jumping up on it] Boys, I'm going to preach you 
a sermon on the moral of this day's proceedings. 

The Boys [crowding round him] Yes, let's have a 
sermon. Go ahead, Blanco. Silence for Elder Blanco. 
Tune the organ. Let us pray. 

Nestor [staggering out of his sleep] Never hold up 
your head in this town again. I'm done with you. 

Blanco [pointing inexorably to Nestor] Drunk 
in church. Disturbing the preacher. Hand him 
out. 

The Boys [chivying Nestor out] Now, Nestor, out- 
side. Outside, Nestor. Out you go. Get your sub- 
scription ready for the Sheriff. Skiddoo, Nestor. 

Nestor. Afraid to be hanged! Afraid to be hanged! 
[At the door] Coward. [He is thrown out]. 

Blanco. Dearly beloved brethren — 

A Boy. Same to you, Blanco. [Laughter]. 

Blanco. And many of them. Boys, this is a rotten 
world. 

Another Boy. Lord, have mercy on us, miserable 
sinners. [More laughter], 

Blanco [Forcibly] No: thats where youre wrong. 
Dont flatter yourselves that youre miserable sinners. Am 
I a miserable sinner.'^ No: I'm a fraud and a failure. 
I started in to be a bad man like the rest of you. You 
all started in to be bad men or you wouldnt be in this 
jumped-up, jerked-off, hospital-turned-out camp that 
calls itself a town. I took the broad path because I 
thought I was a man and not a snivelling canting turn- 
ing-the-other-cheek apprentice angel serving his time in 
a vale of tears. They talked Christianity to us on Sun- 
days; but when they really meant business they told us 
never to take a blow without giving it back, and to get 
dollars. When they talked the golden rule to me, I just 
looked at them as if they werent there, and spat. But 
when they told me to try to live my life so that I could 



34 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

always look my fellowman straight in the eye and tell 
him to go to hell, that fetched me. 

The Boys. Quite right. Good. Bully for you, 
Blanco, old son; right good sense too. Aha-a-ah! 

Blanco. Yes; but whats come of it all.'' Am I a 
real bad man — a man of game and grit — a man that 
does what he likes and goes over or through other peo- 
ple to his own gain; or am I a snivelling cry-baby that 
let a horse his life depended on be took from him by a 
woman, and then sat on the grass looking at the rain- 
bow and let himself be took like a hare in a trap by 
Strapper Kemp — a lad whose back I or any grown man 
here could break against his knee? I'm a rottener fraud 
and failure than the Elder here. And youre all as rot- 
ten as me, or youd have lynched me. 

A Boy. Anything to oblige you, Blanco. 

Another. We can do it yet if you feel really bad 
about it. 

Blanco. No: the devil's gone out of you. We're all 
frauds. There's none of us real good and none of us 
real bad. 

Elder Daniels. There is One above, Blanco. 

Blanco. What do y o u know about Him — you that 
always talk as if He never did anything without asking 
your rotten leave first? Why did the child die? Tell 
me that if you can. Either He killed the child a pur- 
pose or else He was beat by the croup. He cant have 
wanted to kill the child. Why did He make me go soft 
on the child if He was going hard on it Himself ? Why 
should He go hard on the innocent kid and go soft on 
a rotten thing like me? Why did I go soft myself? 
Why did the Sheriff go soft? Why did Feemy go soft? 
Whats this game that upsets our game? For seems to 
me theres two games bein played. Our game is a rotten 
game that makes me feel I'm dirt and that youre all 
as rotten dirt as me. T'other game may be a silly 



The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 85 

game; but it aint rotten. When the Sheriff play^d 't 
he stopped being rotten. When Feemy played it the 
paint nearly dropped off her face. When \f^yf'\} 
cursed myself for a fool; but I lost the rotten feel all 

Elder Daniels. It was the Lord speaking to your 

''BLA^NcrOh yes: you know all about it dont you? 
Youre in the Lord's eonfidenee. He wouldnt for the 
world do anything to shock you, would He, Boozy? 
Yah' What about the croup? I guess He made the 
croup when He was thinking of one thing; and then He 
made the child when He was thinking of son.ethmg 
else; and the croup got past Him and killed the child. 
Some of us will have to find out how to kill the croup, 
I ffuess. I think ni turn doctor, just on the chance ot 
getting back on Him by doing something He couldnt 
do Anyhow, I'll do something different. I got the 
rotten feel off me for a minute of «iy ^^^f'^ , j.'^^ 
through fire to get it off me again. Look here! which 
of you will marry Feemy Evans. .ti7i,^'11 

The Boys [uproariously] Who speaks first? WhoU 
marry Feemy? Come along, Jack. Nows your chance 
Peter. Pass along a husband for Feemy. Oh my, 

^^Feemy [shortly] Keep your tongue off me, will you? 
Blanco. Feemy was a rose of the broad path, wasnt 
she? You all thought her the champion bad woman ot 
this district Well, she's a failure as a bad woman; and 
it a fanure as a bad man. So let Brother Danie s 
marry us to keep all the rottenness in the family. \\ hat 

do vou say, Feemy? ^^..^^ « 

Feemy. Thank vou; but when I marry 111 marry a 
man that could do a decent action ^^^thout surprising 
himself out of his senses. Youre like a child with a 
new tov, you and your bit of human kindness. 



36 The Shewing up of Blanco Posnet 

The Woman. How many would have done it with 
their life at stake? 

Feemy. Oh well, if youre so much taken with him, 
marry him yourself. Youd be what people call a good 
wife to him, wouldnt you.^ 

The Woman. I was a good wife to the child's father. 
I dont think any woman wants to be a good wife twice 
in her life. I want somebody to be a good husband to me 
now. 

Blanco. Any offer, gentlemen, on that understand- 
ing.'* [The boys shake their heads] Oh, it's a rotten 
game, our game. Here's a real good woman and she's 
had enough of it, finding that it only led to being put 
upon. 

Hannah. Well, if there was nothing wrong in the 
world there wouldnt be anything left for us to do, 
would there.'* 

Elder Daniels. Be of good cheer, brothers. Fight 
on. Seek the path. 

Blanco. No. No more paths. No more broad and 
narrow. No more good and bad. Theres no good and 
bad; but by Jiminy, gents, theres a rotten game, and 
theres a great game. I played the rotten game; but the 
great game was played on me; and now I'm for the great 
game every time. Amen. Gentlemen: let us adjourn to 
the saloon. I stand the drinks. [He jumps down from 
the table]. 

The Boys. Right you are, Blanco. Drinks round. 
Come along, boys. Blanco's standing. Right along to 
the Elder's. Hurrah! [They rush out, dragging the 
Elder with them]. 

Blanco [to Feemy, offering his hand] Shake, Feemy. 

Feemy. Get along, you blackguard. 

Blanco. It's come over me again, same as when the 
kid touched me. Shake, Feemy. 

Feemy. Oh well, here. [They shake hands]. 










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